


A Hero's Test and the Price of Failure

by orphan_account



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Animal Death, M/M, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Satyr Loki, Teacher-Student Relationship, Thor AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-02
Updated: 2013-05-02
Packaged: 2017-12-10 04:10:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/781602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fic based off of Underbase's Satyr Loki/Hero Thor story.</p><p>Today Thor was required to prove himself. Loki had been training him for years, forming him from a boy with raw strength to a proper hero-apprentice. But he was no hero yet, just a gangly youth with a desire to prove he could be more. Now he must show it to Master Loki—in a test that could cost him his life, or something far more dear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Hero's Test and the Price of Failure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Under-Base](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Under-Base).



> This fic is based off of [Under-Base's (NSFW) Satyr Loki art](http://under-base.tumblr.com/tagged/Satyr-Loki). While much of Ric's story focuses on the lives of Thor and his Master Loki after Thor has finished his hero training, I wanted to explore the story of Thor's training as a youth. 
> 
> Warning: The Loki in this fic is more reserved with his pupil than Ric's Master Loki. Maybe if I get around to writing more stories, you might find out why...

The tree groaned wearily as Thor pushed the stout branch aside, moving heedlessly through the brush. Thor released the branch, and it snapped back with a sharp rustle of leaves, leaving Thor only a half-second to recall his master shadowing behind him.

“Master Lo—!” Thor turned to shout a warning—too late—only to see that his master had deftly side-skipped the branch Thor had carelessly launched at him.

Despite his master’s height, a full head above Thor’s, Master Loki had ever been fast and nimble, even for a satyr. Thor turned to see Loki finish ducking and dancing aside with grace on his cloven feet as the branch rattled beside his master’s horned head.

Thor breathed a silent, thankful prayer for Master Loki’s agility and fast reaction, wincing at the thought of what would have occurred had his master had not dodged it. The branch Thor had so carelessly pushed aside with his own great strength was half-around as thick as his own master’s torso was. And Loki’s gifts were not as _physical_ as his.

The grimace Loki shot his young apprentice was less than charitable. Thor steeled himself for a rebuke from his master, but it never came from between those pursed lips. It appeared his master would instead continue to keep his sharp tongue reigned for the time being.

Today Thor was required to prove himself. Loki had been training him for years, forming him from a boy with raw strength to a proper hero-apprentice. But he was no hero yet, just a gangly youth with strength beyond his ken and a desire to prove he could be more.

And that was what Master Loki wished to silently asses today: if Thor had the potential to be more. If he could be trained to be a true hero.

_All part of the test._

~*~

Thor managed to catch himself before stepping on another track. Master Loki leaned on his staff, looking on as his apprentice examined the animal sign. Thor could feel tension knot between his shoulders under his master’s cool gaze. Nervously Thor halted out his examination.

“This track is old. It looks like the monster walks on all fours. The shape of the track is paw-like.” He looked up at Master Loki. “It may be a beast type of monster. The track crosses a game trail. We’re far from its nest, but we are within its hunting range.”

His master neither offered clarification nor acknowledgement of his study, but merely continued to lean against his staff, absently rubbing a neatly polished hoof against his other furred ankle as he waited for Thor to come to his feet.

Thor turned to lead the way again, but his nervousness grew with each step. Should he have identified the beast already? That was surely part of the test, for Loki had made a point of keeping him ignorant of what manner of monster they hunted.

Loki had not only trained him in the use of various basic weapons a hero may call upon in battling fell beasts, but he had also drilled Thor in the fighting tactics of many beasts, arming him with the knowledge of their identification and how to best attack or defend against them.

Thor had confidence in his strength. There were few common monsters that possessed greater strength than he. In fact, Thor had felled a lesser monster before he had ever received any training at all, by virtue of his strength alone.

It was for that reason that he had been brought to Loki, the renowned hero trainer, once master to such paragons as Sif the Demon Slayer, and Freyr Wolf’s Bane. And now Thor.

Those who had raised Thor had called him god-touched, whispering of his unknown father when he had demonstrated his strength and fearlessness as a child. But it was only after he had, with his bare hands, crushed a wyrmling that had threatened his friends, that the priests and patriarchs had spoken of a need to find a hero trainer to instruct him.

And thus he was brought to his demanding master. Feats of strength that had earned him easy praise and attention were sneered at and ignored by the unimpressed satyr. Instead Loki would lecture him that a hero who relied on brute strength and the luck of the Gods alone would soon find how lacking the attention of the Gods could be. And of course give him chores. A boy that had the strength and time to pull rivers off their course had more than enough energy to muck out the King’s great stables.

So Loki drilled him and taught him, stretching his mind and testing his discipline, and even finding ways to strain his natural strength and endurance. Thor had been resentful at first, when Loki’s title of ‘Master’ had fallen from his lips as only the vilest of curses.

But as he had grown in discipline and respect, he had also grown in love for his master who accepted no less than the best from him and made him strive to achieve more. As 'Master' developed from a curse to adoration, from facetious to sincere, Thor realized Master Loki was a gift he wanted to treasure for himself.

That Thor could be found wanting, could be faced with the possibility of failing this test and not worth his master’s continued training... He balked at the possibility of being separated from Master Loki.

Should Loki be forced to step in and intervene in this hunt, save Thor or kill the beast himself, Thor would be turned away. Thor tensed at the stressing thought as he continued his stomp through the underbrush. He would rather fall at the hands of his prey.

Thor felt his master’s staff give him a warning tap on his upper arms. “Calm yourself, Thor,” Master Loki ordered behind him. “Your shoulders are so tight they may as well be trying to hide your ears. Relax, or your reactions will be slow and your sense for your surroundings muted.”

Thor tried to take a calming breath, but it did little to loosen his tight limbs. He gnawed his lips and held his weapons tight as he tried to peer ahead down the trail. He could hear Master Loki trotting behind him. How could he relax when there was so much at stake?

Loki huffed in a tone that he used too often when Thor had made up his mind to bull forward. Thor had learned to interpret that noise as one of Loki’s few warnings, _So be it._

Thor’s grip on his weapons went knuckle white. He would show Loki tha—!

Master Loki sauntered up beside him, and with the hint of a smirk on his face, he thrust his staff in to tangle between Thor’s shins, interrupting his stream of thought. Too slow to sidestep the tip of the weapon, Thor’s legs caught on the hardened shaft, and Master Loki flicked the staff to hook his apprentice’s feet out from under him. Thor landed heavily on his back, his secondary weapons digging uncomfortably into his shoulder blades. Thor felt something slap at the back of his wrist as his spear flew from his grip.

Loki followed his fall downward, avoiding Thor’s flailing arms and legs, and pinning him as he landed. A goatish knee pressed into his side while Loki’s hand pushed down on Thor’s opposite shoulder. Thor recognized it as the start of a grappling position, should his master think it necessary to subdue him. Instead Thor allowed himself to be pushed into the forest loam.

“While I am _loath_ to reward pigheadedness, you will want to be in top form for what will come. As I just demonstrated, your current mindset is interfering with your ability to dodge and your awareness of your surroundings.” Loki shifted his knee from where it dug into Thor’s diaphragm and slid it down to straddle his thigh with muscular, furred legs. “If you cannot bring yourself to relax, I will just have to remedy this myself.”

~*~

Thor’s wits had already flown him the moment his master’s pelt had brushed tantalizing along his inner thigh, causing his cock to stir. It took him a moment to register Loki’s words as his master sat back, patiently waiting for Thor to unbelt his undergarments and invite Loki’s touch.

Thor’s hands flew to the cord, fumbling to unbelt his _subligaculum_ while Loki thoughtfully pulled Thor’s dagger from where it dug into his shoulder underneath him

As Thor pushed aside the fabric covering his hardening erection, he fought the urge to avert his burning face so his master could not see how he panted for Loki’s touch.

It was not often Master Loki did him this favor, taking care of his needs. It was only occasionally that Loki taught him those things he must know for when he grew to be a man, and these lessons were not nearly as often as Thor would have wished them to be. Lessons like these every day would have been much more to his tastes.

Thor blushed. He was grateful for Master Loki’s instruction... and it had been foolish to desire more.

He still felt intense mortification for the time he had tried to coax and manipulate Loki into satisfying him again, not because he could not take care of himself, but because he had wanted it to be Master Loki who brought him release again.

Loki’s voice had left him reeling with its utter disappointment and disgust. _“I am not your whore to have however you please. I am your Master. And you shame me. Leave my sight until you have learned to control yourself. I do not teach mannerless beasts.”_

The thought that Loki could _never_ wish to see him again had terrified him. Thor had taken his master’s words to heart and had never asked again, though he burned with unworthy thoughts.

But Thor still remained shameless enough that he could not bring himself to waste even a second of seeing his master like this. Pretending his master could share more with him...

Loki’s fingers wrapped around his stirring erection and Thor stiffened. His next breath was an appreciative hum, and as his heartbeat began to pound in his head, a voice in him wondered, _how am I ever to relax when my Master’s hand brings me to such rigid attention?_

~*~

Thor’s heavy breathing came whistling through his nose as Loki leaned his face in close to Thor’s. He had propped himself up on his arms, leaning back a bit to watch the movements of Loki’s hands and the way the sweat on his thigh caused the hair of Loki’s furry legs to dampen and cling to Thor’s skin. Thor could feel the puff of Loki’s hot breath against his damp upper lip, and Thor bit back a moan.

Master Loki’s gaze was steady on his face, but Thor could not meet his eyes, instead focusing on how Loki's palm dragged up and down his cock, shiny and slick with a generous dribble of the olive oil Loki had carried with their supplies.

“Thor,” Loki said in a tone tinged with exasperated humor. “This will be more successful in its objective of relaxing you if you would come for me.”

Thor’s hips bucked against his master’s hand as if on command, but he held back. Muffling a moan, he practically trembled with the restrained urge to release.

What if this was his last time with his Master Loki like this? What if he were to die, or worse, be turned away, a disappointment?

No, instead he would rather have this moment, here, forever if he could. Even if Loki was only his master, and he was only Loki’s apprentice, he was still Loki’s. And there was nothing more he wanted than to be Loki’s forever.

And again Thor heard Loki sigh. _So be it._

Thor panicked as Loki began to shift from where his master had straddled his leg. Surely he wouldn’t leave him half finished?  

Thor’s balls were tight and beginning to ache, but as Loki shifted his position a hand moved low, below his balls, to press sure fingers down towards Thor’s taint. The growing orgasm Thor had been holding back tingled on his skin, beginning to crest... and then receded as Loki ignored Thor’s needful erection. Instead Loki’s finger’s pressed into Thor, between his legs, pushing back Thor’s need to come with the pressure of Loki’s fingers.

Loki shifted himself farther down Thor’s lap and gave the youth a moment to recover before he bent over. His master met Thor’s panicked expression with eyes that glittered with both mischief and challenge.

“It seems I must teach you to listen to your Master,” Loki murmured up at Thor as he continued to lower his lips to crown the head of Thor’s penis.

Thor groaned loudly as Loki’s mouth began to fill him with new, different sensations. He could have come from just his master’s kiss alone, but Thor knew he must resist, or displease his master. _It is distasteful for an apprentice to spill into his master as one might spill into a wife_ , Loki had once explained. (Though his master’s rebukes had never been especially harsh when Thor had failed in this.)

Thor had resisted his master when Loki had called him to come, and now it seemed his master wished him to resist coming until he gave permission.

It was a challenge Thor could never regret taking.

As Loki’s other hand slid along Thor’s hard length, a small trickle of come leaked from Thor’s glans. Loki circled it with his tongue, spreading it along the head of Thor’s penis before moving his wet mouth lower, moistening along Thor’s shaft as he kissed its length.

Thor closed his eyes, needing to sacrifice a moment of that sight to focus on his breathing. He shivered at the wet sounds of Loki’s mouth along his manhood, twitching and moaning under Loki’s hands, but the steady pressure into the spot below Thor’s balls seemed continue to aid in lessening his body’s need for release.

After exploring Thor’s length, Master Loki gave Thor’s head one last swirl with his tongue before stretching his lips over Thor’s cock.

Despite his better judgment, Thor forced his eyes back open, struggling to keep his breath steady as he watched his master’s head bob and cheeks hollow as Loki took Thor’s shaft with his thin lipped mouth. Thor fought the urge to reach out and run his fingers through the cool strands of his master’s hair and rub his hands along the spirals of his master’s horns.

The horns especially. How could he not itch with the desire to grasp them in his palms and pull his master down on his cock? To come deep in his master’s mouth, and then have him like this again and again?

But Loki was his _master_. Loki was not his to control. It was he who must have the discipline in this moment.

_So this is just another test? Are you a mannerless beast, or a hero in training, Thor?_

As Thor’s entire body trembled with need for release, Loki sat up, laving Thor’s head with his tongue one last time before leaning back and pointedly looking to Thor.

“ _Please, Master Loki,”_ Thor begged.

With a benevolent smile, Loki leaned back and lessened the pressure of his hand between Thor’s legs.

“Yes, Thor. You may come now.”

While Loki’s fingers began to instead massage the spot behind Thor’s balls, Loki’s other hand jerked his firm grip along Thor’s hard length. Thor came with a shout as his body jackknifed with the force of the orgasm that he had denied himself.

Thor’s arms gave from under him and he lay there in the dirt, panting. Loki took the edge of Thor’s garments and wiped the stickiness from his palms before hopping to his feet, shaking his tail and shivering any dirt from his glossy coat.

Loki stepped to where his waterskin had been discarded, uncorked it and wordlessly held it out to his apprentice as Thor’s vision began to return to him. Thor propped himself up and drank deeply.

After readjusting his robes and gathering his weapons, Thor took a deep breath of refreshing air, and bounced to his feet as well.

He was ready for this test. No beast could be a match for him. He was blessed with heroic strength, and he was trained by Master Loki, the hero trainer!

As he took the lead again, choosing a careful path through the brush, his eyes sweeping for animal signs, it occurred to him that the depth of the tracks he had seen earlier seemed too light for a creature that had paws as big as the ones he had seen. He would have to check for other signs in the next set of tracks he found to see if the same held true.

It was then that Thor saw the carcass in the clearing ahead.

~*~

The lack of flies and other carrion-eaters was the first sign Thor noted. It was a young buck, its newly felting horns locked in a nearby branch, making it easy prey for whatever predator would come across it. But Thor could see no insects or signs of scavenging. There was evidence of claw marks, like those of a wolf or dog in the flesh, but what caught his interest was the lack of bite marks to match them. It was a curious thing to not see on an animal that had been clearly eaten.

He examined the marks for a moment more before turning to his Master.

“Master, I will need to prepare a harpooning bolt for my bow.”

“And what do you suppose you shall be fishing for?” Loki said as he slipped the specialized gear he carried from his shoulders.

“Its tracks are canid, but they are light in step. The wounds that took this stag down are clawed like a wolf or a hunting dog, but there is no sign of its bite—only more wounds, as if the flesh was cut and torn from it. The area is wooded, but not thickly, and there are plains used by livestock and herd beasts nearby.

“I believe the beast to be a flying beast: possibly a gryphon. Not a lion—its tracks are too small. But possibly an avian canid. And my first priority will be to take the advantage of the sky from it.”

Master Loki nodded but said no more as he began to loosely coil the rope.

~*~

Thor slowly inched forward on his belly, moving through the sparse brush of the clearing with his spear and bow. He also carried a knife, but had left his sword. His memories of Loki’s lessons had stressed spears against monsters of flight as well as against swift beasts of the ground. Flying enemies would attempt to dive at you from the sky, and swift beasts of the ground would attempt to charge and leap to attack. Distance would be key against both. Should he be close enough to use a sword, they would be close enough to swipe at him, and he had yet to be sure if this beast carried any toxin in its claws or bite.

The den had been dug out from the roots of a tall and spindly cypress. Bones of sheep from the village hung from the branches. There was evidence of other prey as well. Thor gripped his bow more tightly when he recognized tiny human skulls.

Though Master Loki had prohibited him from talking to the nearby villagers (presumably to ensure that no one told him what sort of beast he was to face so he could decipher that himself, as a true hero might have to), he had no doubt what had led Loki to choosing this particular beast. This was why there was a need for heros.

To protect people.

The beast lay sunning itself on a rock nearby its den. Its wings were fluffed and loose from its body, enjoying the warmth of the sun. It was only slightly larger than a wolf, though its body more nearly resembled that of a whip-thin hound. Instead of a muzzle, it bore a sharp hawk-like beak and its paws were tipped with sharp talons for rending flesh and grasping perches.

An Axex? Thor wasn’t sure. He did not think it mattered, though he recalled Loki mentioning something about such beasts having hollow, easily broken bones...

Without rising from where he hugged the earth, he readied his arrow and spooled the cord where it could fly without arresting the arrow’s flight. Setting his spear close at hand, Thor checked the wind, and rose silently to draw his bow.

The movement caught the beast’s eye—little surprise, given such hawk-sharp eyes must be bred for seeing the movement of camouflaged prey from as high up as the heavens.

It started to its feet, and as it moved to launch itself skyward, Thor loosed his arrow. He watched the arrow’s flight for only a moment as the cord whipped beside him before ducking to grab hold of his spear. Should the first arrow miss, he would need his spear before he had time to knock a second arrow, though he kept both the bow and his quiver close at the ready should the beast decide to fly off instead of attack.

A shrieking howl rent the sky as the arrow caught the beast low on its flank. With Thor’s strength behind the draw of his heavy bow, the bolt had driven the barbed shaft deep into its flesh, and it would not prove easy to dislodge. Thor braced himself as the cord snapped taut against the creature’s rising flight.

As the creature threatened to drag him along after it, Thor changed his stance, finding a strong base and leaning his weight back so his heels dug into the earth in front of him.  After finding a steady footing, Thor gave the cord a powerful tug. The monster came up short on his tether, and like a kite on a strong wind and a short line, it crashed into the ground, landing heavily on its side.

Thor began to pull in the slack, closing the distance as the beast flailed to its feet. With a scream of fury it leapt at Thor, claws outstretched and ready to rend the would-be hero into so much flesh and bone. But as the winged monster was nearly upon him, Thor ducked low, setting his spear before him and bracing it against the earth.

The monster howled its frustration and backwinged away from the spear that threatened to impale it, again attempting to seek refuge in the sky. It pulled against the tethering bolt lodged deep in its leg and turned to fly around Thor. He turned with it, following its path through the air with the point of his spear.

Again the beast swooped, but before it came within striking distance it launched itself skyward again, pulling Thor off balance and threatening to drag his feet from the earth.  If it could take Thor to the sky, he would be as good as at its mercy. If he let go of the tether...

It could fly away, and not bother to return for another attack. Leave and lick its wounds. Would Loki let him track the beast again? Desperately he looked to the edge of the clearing, and saw Loki, standing at the ready with his longbow. Arrow knocked, but not drawn.

No, Thor would not get a second chance. The beast would not be allowed to live just so he could hunt it down and continue his test. If it looked like the beast would escape. Loki would end it while it was still distracted and in range. It would be a simple kill for his hero master to make...

Thor gritted his teeth. He would not let go. He would not fail. Never.

After a moment, he saw that the beast was angling for the cypress tree. Did it intend to tangle him in its branches or drag him from the ground that way?

Thor grinned and began to let his heels slide more gently through the earth.

He wondered if Loki would praise him and call him clever if this worked.

The monster reached its cypress and scrabbled along the thick branches, threatening to pull Thor into leaves along with it. Thor let it climb around the bole of the tree, pulling itself higher through the branches with its sharp claws before he stopped pulling against the rope and instead ran towards the tree’s rough trunk. Before the beast could take advantage of the slack to drag him up or dislodge him, Thor ran around the trunk, using it as a fulcrum himself. Bracing himself with a foot against the trunk, he pulled the slack taut against the tree. It was enough to keep the beast from taking flight from the tree it was now trapped in.

Thor looked up at the beast, and then again, down to the exposed roots of the great tree. The den had been dug out between its roots, leaving many of them bare and revealing how shallowly they dug into the rocky earth.

Thor had not dared use his full strength to pull the tethered arrow before, lest the shaft or rope break from where it was caught fast in the monster’s flesh, but Thor saw no reason to hold back his strength against a new target. He pressed his shoulder into the bole of the tree, his arms bulging and his legs trembling beneath him.

The tree creaked ominously, and the rocky soil beneath his feet shivered and cracked around him. The tree groaned, and a rustling of leaves and squawking rained on him from overhead. As the world began to tip sideways, Thor clung fiercely to the trunk, his fingers digging fissures into the rough bark as he rode the great tree’s fall to the earth and hoped it did not roll and crush him.

The world did not immediately still for Thor as the tree bounced against the earth, cracking branches and snapping trees as it fell. Thor coughed dust and looked about him, seeing the great tangle of roots that had risen into the air as he had ridden the trunk down.

He looked up, but saw only normal birds taking to the air in panicked flight. After a moment Thor let go of the cord. He would not be able to check if anything else had come down in the branches if he did not let go the tether himself. He let the line go slack.

Thor could not see where his spear had fallen to, but to his relief his found that his knife still remained on his belt. He drew his blade and continued cautiously up the felled branches.

The tether proved still useful, as it gave Thor an indication of possible branches to check, and which to pass on. He had traveled fifty feet along the length of the tree before the cord stopped.

And there, pinned beneath the trunk of the tree that it had once nested beneath, stabbed through with a splintered branch it had once eaten children and beasts amongst, lay the panting gryphon-beast. It growled weakly at him between panting breaths, and Thor stayed his distance.

He must finish it.

He could call over Loki, have his master give him another weapon. Even mortally wounded, a monster was not to be underestimated.

But no. Thor still held a weapon. He would not draw this out. He would end this now.

Thor circled the beast until he was at its back. It tried to crane its head to follow him with resentful eyes, but its shattered spine could only allow it so much movement. Thor approached from behind its head, and while it weakly growled at him, he leaned down to put pressure on its head and control its movements with a strong and steady palm. His other knee leaned against the beast’s shoulder, near where its wings lay crushed and fluttering beneath the tree. Thor pressed his dagger to base of the beast’s skull stabbed the knife inward.

The monster shuddered and stilled as Thor severed the beast’s spinal cord. He had not trusted his wrist in any proximity of the monster’s mouth to have slit its throat, but ending it this way seemed to have killed the beast cleanly enough... Considering.

Thor looked up to see Master Loki picking his way over the shattered earth and uprooted boulders. He approached Thor and looked his apprentice over with a glance meant to apprise him of his condition before checking the beast—an action that Thor knew Loki would only have done if he had full confidence in Thor’s kill. Loki had ever counseled him to never approach a monster as if it were without the ability to do harm unless you had ensured it was truly dead for yourself.

Loki handed his waterskin to Thor again.

“You have done well, apprentice. Today you have been a Hero.”

Loki bent, and with his own knife he took the beast’s paw before straightening up again. “I will present this paw as proof of our victory over the beast, but you should choose a trophy to keep. This is your first monster slain as a hero after all.”

Thor, ran his fingers through the beasts feathered neck. Above where he had stabbed it, a crest of curling feathers decorated the beast’s brow. Gingerly, Thor, plucked several feathers from this plume, and stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do next. A bath would be nice. He felt rather dusty and sweaty.

Master Loki began trotting away, and indicated for Thor to follow him. “Come Thor. Time for you to learn the other chore of being a hero. The feasts and adulation.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Womanconda for all the tireless editing.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it Ric (◕‿◕✿)
> 
> [Here's some fan art Ric (and I) did for the fic! Check it out!](http://under-base.tumblr.com/post/49835811849/a-heros-test-and-the-price-of-failure-a-satyr-loki#notes)


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